Category Archives: Gorilla Perfume

LUSH have released a few limited edition scents, taken from their line of body and hair products. I ordered two of these, pretty much blind, because they were an awesome price, and sounded wonderful. Lush/Gorilla Perfume constantly turn out fragrances with great creativity and strength, some often pushing the boundaries of wearability for one reason or another. I still find the original line up of fragrances far superior than the new ones (in the horrible dab bottles compared to the solid black ones), so was thrilled to find here some of their older scents being re-released for a limited time.
Snowcake was one of my choices :)

Snowcake starts with a blast of banana. Very realistic to me, not candied like those foam bananas, and thankfully not overripe or skunky. It doesn’t come from cedar, as I’ve smelt in fragrances such as Totem Eclipse Of The Heart by Smell Bent and Dev #1 by Olympic Orchids… it’s just banana :) Which was totally unexpected. The banana sweetens just slightly, as a powdery almond comes in with just a hint of violet? There’s a eugenol, or maybe even cinnamon? – like heat in the background, thankfully it’s extremely quiet, sweetened by the almond and now present vanilla, smelling like a fireball candy way in the background.

The spiced banana/almond smells a little like a good bread and butter pudding (all very British things I’m mentioning here for some reason!), but not so literal it comes across as food. There is a huge load of white musk in the base that ensures Snowcake doesn’t go all out gourmand, and remains perfume-y, if not even slightly dated in time. A heavy white musk base isn’t my favourite way for a fragrance to finish, but the opening and heart of Snowcake are absolutely fascinating. It’s a total comfort fragrance, yet strange enough to not be too cosy and ditzy. Still, all this complicated stuff goes on when sniffed up close, from a far, the delicate throw is that of marzipan and play-doh, with musk. It’s a fail-safe fragrance, impossible for others not to love when you wear it!

As it settles, the marzipan accord dominates paired with the subtlest hint of rose and spice, the banana disappears entirely, and the vanilla/musk gradually takes over. Snowcake, as with most Lush fragrances, last for hours with great projection. It’s a little closer to the skin than other fragrances I’ve worn from them, but all the better for it. It draws people in.
For fans of almond fragrances, it is undoubtedly a must-sniff. A rare fragrance where almond isn’t partnered with cherry, overdoses of vanilla, labelled “loukoum”, or partnered with pastry notes. It’s a little waxy, a little powdery, not too sweet, and just what I needed in my collection! Well done Lush :)

I’ve owned the solid stick of Dirty twice now. I didn’t finish my first one, and threw it away. The second was bought for me.
Now, it was bought for me around Christmas time and I haven’t touched it.
Today I had no idea what to wear – I picked up the lids of a handful of my fragrances and gave them all a sniff in hope of being inspired. After a few moments, I just grabbed the Dirty stick and rubbed it over my wrists and neck.

On my way to work, I had a grin from ear to ear, and I realised… I absolutely LOVE this scent.

The last time I owned “The Dirty stick” (my partner reminded me) was late summer last year and I wore it solely when we went on holiday to Brussels. Something about this fragrance just makes me gleamingly happy, and I have only realised this today.

So…

Just to confirm, I’m reviewing the solid perfume… the spray which I have also tried is pretty much identical but I just wanted to clarify :)

Dirty opens very herbal, completely refreshing, and a little bit spicy. I know I’m not being specific there sorry…
After a matter of seconds, this complicated stir of top notes settles down to something much more recognizable.

The main accord throughout Dirty, is that of a stale spearmint – some dried chewing gum that remains feeling damp and dense. It’s cooling, refreshing, and completely baffling. I choose the word baffling as once you’ve gotten your head around the mintiness, an ozonic sea breeze freshness supports it, along with some of the initial herbal green which I read in the Gorilla Perfume booklet to be thyme and tarragon. I don’t actually recognize it as thyme, but maybe that’s because it doesn’t smell like the cooking herb I’m slightly more familiar with, it’s much fresher and damp. The marine notes are perfect – a tiny bit salty, maybe even a little seaweedy with a spacial, airy feel.

There’s a tiny squelch of bitter oakmoss in the base that you can only just smell throughout the heart as it is completely smothered by the spearmint.
If I read this review without trying Dirty, I’d have left the page as soon as I read “spearmint”, the words “cooling and refreshing” would have made me run that little bit quicker. True that I have been intrigued by mint notes recently, but this one is my reference. This is everything that I should hate in a fragrance, but something about it is utterly compelling.

I really like this in stick form. Surprisingly it lasts me about 8 hours, with a good 2 hours projection just from some good rubs across the neck and wrists. I will get the spray for sure when it runs out though as I am desperate to lavishly splash it all over myself this summer!
Anyway! I’m getting ahead of myself.

The great thing about Dirty, is it manages to smell familiar, comfortable and yet completely unique. It is the most perfect summer fragrance I have come across and it makes a complete change from everything else in my wardrobe.

Back to the scent again, it remains pretty linear, what you smell at the beginning is how it will end, and it probably takes some time to fall for, it’s not an instant love that’s for sure. It is masculine, uplifting and completely non-cologney which is probably why I enjoy it so much.
So, sorry for the short review, but there really isn’t much more I can say about Dirty. The last thing I’ll add is, go to your local Lush store and give it a sniff!